Most of the pictures in this gallery are from when Amanda was 4 and 5 years old. We thought the pictures were cute, and so we tried to write funny captions (which are maintained solely for their historical value). But, in hindsight, we can see the beginnings of the more mature talent she now exhibits...as well as an unusual interest in pregnancy and fetuses!

This year Amanda was required to produce pieces that count as "design". She eloquently captures the central theme of her portfolio in this essay written for to accompany AP submission:

While rummaging through my grandmother’s keepsakes, I came across a wooden block for printing the yellow portion of a landscape. Though seemingly insignificant, the block represented my late grandfather, and it sparked curiosity as to how this lone piece of a picture had value without its complementary blocks and subsequent colors. As a result, my concentration analyzes the sentimental value of objects, as well as how this value is affected when the object represents a larger concept or series.

To achieve this, I utilized an aspect of block prints generally avoided, that images misalign and overlap causing details and realism to be lost. In pieces 1, 2, 4,and 10, this print-like detail of the desired image being shifted, is meant to reveal the sentimental value that would have been hidden beneath. In 3 and 9, the photographs that triggered my memories more clearly convey their significance when details are lost, lost like the yellow block of the landscape print. In image 4, the porcelain fisherman is turned three quarters to the left and right to reveal the honest, hard working gardeners in a Japanese Zen garden I visited in Kyoto. Image 5 conveys the endless pleasure of just two children encountering just two chairs. The lack of color in the children emphasizes the chairs. Image 6 utilizes the appearance of a shift to the left of the colors in a single child’s clothing while they play. The objects of value in 7-10 are horses, stained glass windows, tutus, and yellow hats (worn by Japanese children on fieldtrips) respectively. Images 11 and 12 depict foreign children in uniforms first shifted down, and then contrasted by a hornet’s nest throwing into sharp relief the loss of individuality inherent in a dress code.

You may recognize the statue as one that was in the home of Marty and Claire Kasman for many years. Amanda says: "the porcelain fisherman is turned three quarters to the left and right to reveal the honest, hard working gardeners in a Japanese Zen garden I visited in Kyoto".

The sizes in this photo are not exaggerated: Orney's doctor is very tall and she is very short. Amanda added color patches on acetate sheets that are overlayed with shifts and flips. So, this is only one of infinitely many possible combinations.